


the art of life's distractions

by RRHand



Series: falling in love just a little ol' little bit [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Monsters, Billy Hargrove is a Little Shit, Dad Billy Hargrove, Dad!Billy, Harringrove, Lawyer Billy Hargrove, M/M, Modern Era, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Teacher Steve Harrington
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:01:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27085984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RRHand/pseuds/RRHand
Summary: "Only God knows the effect that Billy Hargrove in his suit and his curly hair in a bun, giving his child a forehead kiss does to Steve."also where Billy finally asks Steve out and Robin is snickering in the sidelines.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Series: falling in love just a little ol' little bit [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1976869
Comments: 15
Kudos: 153





	the art of life's distractions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Yikes_Writes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yikes_Writes/gifts).



> hello there! a little cute thing to balance out the distressingly sad work i posted two days ago. also, Yikes liked my work so much they wrote me a fic in tumblr and now i feel like repaying them <3 hope u guys enjoy it, see you at the end!
> 
> title from hozier's "someone new".

Steve is finishing cleaning his students’ paint-brushes when Robin hopps into his classroom sporting a shit-eating grin. 

“So...,” she says, getting close to him and whispering. “Maxine’s hot dad just got in.” 

“Okay,” Steve answers, drying the brushes. He glances at the three kids still sitting in the classroom’s mat, painting a picture to take home. 

Sometimes that happens. Parents are late for one reason or another, so Steve always has a little activity tucked away in case a kid needs to stay a few minutes after class - the fact that friday is painting day just makes his life easier. 

“‘Okay’ what?” Robin follows him as he crosses the classroom and starts putting away the brushes.

“Okay okay, Rob,” he looks sideways at her puzzled expression and keeps his voice low, not wanting Maxine to clock in they are talking about her father - lord knows the little girl is smart. “What else do you want me to say?”

“What do I want you to say?” Her face is a mix of astonished and vexxed - a mix she’s been wearing quite a lot in the last days. “I want you,” she points a slender and insistent finger to him. “To tell me,” she pokes at her own chest. “When you are going to hit that!” 

The fact that she is whisper-shouting at him by the end isn’t half as menacing as she wants it to be - Steve is a teacher and he has faced worse things, like soccer moms. 

“Are you kidding me?” He whispers-shouts back at her as he sits down in his chair and she perches up on his desk. “Again with this? Doesn’t matter how hot he is or,” he checks the children again, who are still in their own little world. “How much I want him to fucking rail me, he is the father of one of my students. I’m not gonna hit on him.” 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Steve,” Robin does that super dramatic sigh of hers. “You fucking want him and he cleary,” she gestures around, showing how clear it is. “Wants you. What is the problem?” 

“The problem is that I’m not gonna hit on a student’s parent. If it was the other way around, he could probably have me in his bed in, like, 2.5 seconds, but I am not going to initiate any contact like this.”

She narrows his eyes and then, as if the switch had been turned, she smiles sweetly at him. 

“So, hypothetically,” she leans down closer to him. “If he were to hit on you, you would be okay with it?”

Steve rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I mean, have you seen the man?”

“Alrighty, then!” She leaps from the table and walks to the door. “See you tomorrow, doofus.”

Robin finger-guns him and is gone in a flash. He shakes his head, but doesn’t think very hard on it. It isn’t like Robin isn’t weird as hell normally, but so is he, kind of - there’s a reason their friendship is so chaotically functional. 

“Max,” he calls out. “Your father should be here really soon. Do you want to start packing up?” 

She looks up from her position on the ground with a cute little frown in her forehead. After thinking for a second, she asks. 

“Can I finish this painting, Mr. Harrington?” And if Steve wasn’t halfway to immune to these little voices, he would melt right to the ground. “Daddy likes you, so he can wait with you a little, right?”

Steve smiles at her. “You can continue your painting until your father gets here, but then you’re going to ask him if he minds waiting, okay?”

She nods emphatically, her little head and red curls bobbing around. “Okay!” And gets back to her drawing. Tyler and Ava don’t even raise their head, too focused on their art to care about anything else. 

Steve starts to read the last bulletin the Principal had handed out to the teachers about the halloween activities they are going to have, but is disrupted by a loud shout.

“Daddy!” Maxine is off like a rocket into Billy’s waiting arms by the door. 

Billy is, like the first time they met and all the other times the blond came to pick Maxine up, wearing one of his expensive three-piece suits that leave nothing to the imagination and only serve to make Steve drool. Steve learned, in the last weeks, a few things about Billy, in those 5 minutes conversations they manage to have while Maxine gets ready. One of those things is that Billy knows quite a bit about fashion and, if Steve had to guess, that’s why he’s always looking so sharp and mouth watering. 

Steve gets up from his desk and walks up to the door.

“Daddy, can I finish my painting? Pretty please?” Maxine asks the blond. 

“Oh, hello to you too, my most beloved child, how was your day? My day was very good,” Billy teases her and gives her a forehead kiss. 

“Hi, Daddy,” Maxine starts again after a long-suffering sigh that only makes Billy’s smile get bigger. “It’s good that your day was good, my day was nice too. We painted a lot. Can I finish my painting before we go home, pretty please?”

Only God knows the effect that Billy Hargrove in his suit and his curly hair in a bun, giving his child a forehead kiss does to Steve. Sure, it’s the basic thing a parent has to do, give love and attention to their kid, but Billy makes the basic look really good. 

“You can,” it’s Billy’s response. “I got to talk with Mr. Harrington,” he winks at Steve over Max’s head and Steve can feel his cheeks warming. “So you can finish your painting while I do that, how about that?”

“Thank you, Daddy.” Billy puts her in the ground and she’s soon throwing herself down on the mat again, paint brush in hand and a concentrated expression in her little face. 

Steve gets closer whilst Billy makes himself comfortable leaning in the door jamb.

“Evenin’, Billy.” 

Steve leans in on the other side of the door, Billy comfortable presence and easy stance making Steve more relaxed than he would be talking to other parents. 

“Hey, Steve, how are you?” Billy asks, hands in his pockets and cocky grin in his face. 

“I’m fine, this was a good week. How about you? You wanted to talk?”

“I’m good too.” He shrugs, cocky grin turning into a more genuine smile. “Uh, yeah, I met your friend, Robin, in the hallway.”

Steve groans playfully. “Oh god, what has she done now?”

Billy laughs boisterly, head thrown back. “Not much really. It was quite the cryptic message.”

“Oh my god,” Steve runs his hand through his hair. “Cryptic? If there’s one thing that that woman is not is cryptic.” 

“She just stopped me and told me I should go for it.” Billy is watching Steve intently, as if he wants to read the answer to whatever questions he has right off of his face. Steve can feel himself blushing again and curses mentally his skin for being so fucking pale. 

“I have no idea what she meant by that,” Steve says, shaking his head and going for a confused expression to pretend he doesn’t know that Robin told _one of his student’s parents_ to hit on him - for fuck’s sake, Robin. 

“Don’t you?” Billy turns his head to the side a bit, steadfastly looking at Steve. “So,” he opens up a small grin. “If I asked you what were the fraternization rules between parents and teachers, what would you say?”

His face is burning, but Steve can’t tear his eyes away from Billy’s. 

“I would say,” he starts slowly, lost between wanting to acknowledge _this_ and also wanting to pretend nothing was happening. “That for older kids, fraternization is prohibited, but for younger kids, let’s say,” he raises one of his eyebrows. “in Maxine’s age, the rule only says that the Principal must be aware of whatever relationship is going on.”

Billy hums. His grin grows. 

“Well,” he muses. “Maybe I should follow Robin’s advice and go for it. Maybe I should ask you for a coffee, huh?”

Steve shrugs, trying hard to contain a smile even though he’s sure Billy can see right through him. 

“Maybe you should.” He leans in and his voice drops, talking in a fake-conspiratorial tone. “I mean, you’ll never know the answer if you don’t, right?” 

Steve winks. Two can play this game.

Billy laughs again. “So, Steve, would you like to go on a date with me?”

Steve smiles too. “I’d like that very much.” 

The broad grin he gets in response is worth the teasing he’s sure Robin’s going to inflict on him. They exchange numbers and, as if on cue, Maxine comes bouncing to where they’re still leaning against the door.

“Look, Daddy, I painted us!” She shows Billy the yellow colored paper she chose to paint on and, from where he is, Steve can see two humanoid shapes, one tall and blond and one small and redhead. 

“It’s very beautiful, babe. Are we going to put this one up on the fridge?” Maxine nods and Billy carries on. “Okay, then. Are you ready to go?”

“Yes! Bye-bye, Mr. Harrington!” She waves at him and he, again, melts inside. 

“Bye-bye, Maxine, have a good weekend.” He looks at Billy. “We’ll talk?”

“Sure,” he answers with a smile. “See ya.”

And, with a wink, Billy and Maxine are gone and Steve has a date.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed it! kudos and comments are super welcome! if you enjoy my work, please consider supporting me! see you guys next time!


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